


A Pirate and a Prince (Zendra x Avidan Pirate AU)

by Aceofstars16



Category: The Silver Eye (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-28 13:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5091740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zendra Dabney is one of the most feared pirates on the seas, she commands fear and respect from all who meet her. Mystery surrounds her and only those in her crew know much about her. Avidan Leto is the crown prince of Gallitan. He has been trained all of his life to rule, but he still struggles to have the authority that he needs. When Avidan gets captured by Captain Zendra Dabney, he finds himself feeling even more useless than usual. Little do they know that a simple kidnapping and ransom could have such unexpected consequences.<br/>(I will try to Update every Sunday, but this all depends on school, motivation, and response to the fic)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Clash of Powers

**Chapter 1: A Clash of Powers**

Ocean waves crashed across the bow of the ship, and wind filled the sails, propelling the infamous vessel at faster speeds than any other boat that sailed this or any ocean. At the front of the ship was the captain. Captain Zendra Dabney. That was her name. Not opposing at first sight, as she was shorter than her most of her male counter parts, but her strategy and skill on the seas made up for her lack of height. Although a girl, she had one of the most ruthless reputations of any pirates, at least to those she didn’t like. She kept to herself and kept her secrets, thus making her reputation even greater. There were many mysteries surrounding her actions – but the main mystery was why she gave some of her plundered money or clothes to various orphanages. No one knew the reason behind this, except her crew. In fact her crew were the only people that knew much about her at all. They were her family, though every crew member knew to be wary of her.

“Captain, he’s waking up.”

Zendra turned from her view of the sea and glanced at her first mate, Jenna Hart, who had walked up beside her.

“Oh is he now? Hmm, I suppose we should welcome him to the Nighthawk,” she said, her voice flat, but her eyes were carrying a gleam of humor in them. Only one who had been around her for a while would be able to detect the difference in her coconut brown eyes.

Turning on her heels, Zendra quickly made her way to the mast where her latest captive was tied. He didn’t look like much, but he was actually a prince. And a country would pay a hefty reward to get a crown prince back. His grey eyes has been looking out at the sea but quickly swiveled towards her as she stopped in front of him. He glared at her and she was sure he would be saying some choice words to her if there wasn’t a gag in his mouth.

“Hello, ‘Your Majesty’,” Zendra said with mock reverence, “If you wish to have a pleasant stay you will listen to everything I have to say and you will do as I say without question, is that understood?”

The prince simply glared back at her.

Zendra took a step forward and drew her knife in one fluid motion, resting the point of the blade right below his chin. “Understand?” She asked again, her voice growing more threatening than before.

He glared back at her for a few seconds and she met his gaze. Although initially he looked only mad, she could see the slightest hint of fear in his eyes as well, and that brought a faint smile to her mouth. After a few seconds of eye contact, he looked down and Zendra smiled. Reaching up, she pulled off his small sliver of a crown, then stepped back.

“Good,” she said curtly, then turned to her first mate, “Jenna, take him to the prisoner hold. Oh and one more thing prince. If you try to yell for help or do anything to escape I will personally see to it that your time here will be less than hospitable. Got it?”

Once again her glared at her, but meeting her gaze he sighed and nodded.

“Alright then,” Zendra said then stepped forward with her knife and thrust it upward, making the prince flinch. The action cut through the gag, though it also caught some skin on his cheek. This didn’t bother Zendra though; she just glanced at it, shrugged and cut the ropes that had been securing the prince to the mast.

“Jenna.” She said simply and the first mate grabbed the prince’s shoulder and dragged him off. Right before he was lead into the ship, Zendra called out once more, “Don’t forget my warning prince.”

He glared at her one more time, but was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. And then he was gone behind the door leading to the bottom of the ship.

Looking down at the crown in her hand, a lopsided grin grew on Zendra’s face. Oh yes, this would be fun.

\----------------------------------------------------------

Anger boiled inside of Avidan’s chest, but who that anger was directed towards…he wasn’t entirely sure. Of course he was mad at the pirates who had captured him, and the way the “Captain” had addressed him so mockingly. He was also mad at his guards for not being able to protect him, but if he was truly honest with himself, he was mostly mad at himself for being so utterly useless. If he was like Noah he would’ve fought the pirates and escaped. Or if he was like Velvare or Idony he might have been able to talk his way out of the situation, but no, he wasn’t any of those people and although he had some skills there weren’t good enough to get him out of this mess.

All of these thoughts swirled around in Avidan’s brain as he was lead down into the ship. If it wasn’t for the lamps, it would’ve been too dark to see, but even with them he had to squint to take in his surroundings. Not that there was much to take in. There were a few closed doors to either side and at the end of the hallway there was an open doorway in which he could barely make out some barrels and stools, a kitchen most likely.

There might have been more to see, but before he could notice anything else, Avidan was pushed forward a few steps, then the girl behind him opened a door and pushed him in. Even before he could turn around before the door was closed and he heard the faint click of a lock. Great, now he was stuck in this tiny room with no clue as to when he would ever see the sun again.

The room itself was unimpressive, mostly due to the fact that there was nothing in it besides a blanket and a bucket. Avidan shuddered as he realized what the bucket was for and he quickly pushed it as far away as he could, though considering the size of the room that wasn’t very far at all. Glancing at the blanket, he was surprised that it looked fairly nice, though not very big and upon further inspection he found that it would barely even cover his body. Not that it mattered, he was far from cold at the moment so he crudely folded it up again and tossed it into the corner opposite the bucket. Reaching up, he touched the small cut on his cheek. Already, the blood was clotting, soon it would be dry, though he couldn’t help but wonder if it would get infected without medical attention. Sure it was small, but small wounds could still get infected. Wanting to take his mind off of that possibility, Avidan looked around for something to distract himself, but there was literally nothing to do but stare at the wall.

“I can always quiz myself on politics,” he muttered, then immediately regretted it as speaking alerted him to how dry his throat was. Looking around again, he double checked to make sure there wasn’t a pitcher anywhere, but of course there wasn’t. Glancing at the door, Avidan was tempted to bang on it until someone came and gave him water, but the thought repulsed him. There was no way he would result to begging with pirates. Instead he tried to swallow whatever saliva he had in his mouth, which wasn’t much at all, and then he started trying to recall all that he learned in the various meetings and tutor sessions he had attended. A few words popped into his mind, but he couldn’t remember what they meant and his whole head felt fuzzy. The lack of water, and the small bruise of his head from being knocked out seemed to have left him with a fuzzy mind.

With a groan, he looked around again and saw the blanket. His head ached and he figured sleeping might take his mind off of his thirst and his head. Reaching over, he grabbed the blanket and balled it up to make a pillow, than he lied down. At least the room was wide enough for him to lie down in…barely. Closing his eyes, Avidan immediately noted how uncomfortable he was, but he tried not to think about it and to his surprise he felt himself falling asleep within a few minutes.

\----------------------------------------------------------

Jenna smirked as she opened the door and saw the prince sleeping, looking very unroyal as he did so. Shaking her head, set the pitcher of water on the ground and then lightly kicked his side, watching as he jolted awake, looking around in bewilderment.

“What the?” he sputtered then glanced up at Jenna.

“Food time,” she said simply, tossing him a small bundle, and only waiting to see that he caught it before swinging the door shut and locking it again.  
Spinning the key ring on her hand, Jenna whistled as she walked through the hallway and climbed the stairs to the deck. Once there, she made her way to Zendra, who was at her normal spot at the bow, examining the ocean.

“He has his food,” she said simply, as she reached into her pocket to deposit the key and at the same time pull out a left over roll from dinner. Everyone in the crew had eaten before the prince, he had simply gotten a few leftovers, just enough to keep him going.

Zendra simply nodded, her gaze still fixed on the ocean.

“Well I’m off to the kitchen, my turn to help clean,” Jenna said, and was in the process of turning around when Zendra’s voice stopped her.

“Key please,” she said, holing out her hand.

Jenna raised her eyebrows but, pulled out the key and handed it to her Captain. “What are you planning on doing?” She asked, unable to quell her curiosity.

“Nothing of importance,” Zendra said curtly.

Nodding, Jenna turned and walked away, she knew Zendra well enough to know when she didn’t want to discuss something. And she knew her captain wouldn’t do anything foolish, so she knew leaving would be the best course of action for her.

After the sound of Jenna’s footsteps had dissipated, Zendra, glanced down at the key in her hand, going over a plan in her mind. She needed to write a ransom letter, but she wanted to make sure it was worded in the best possible way so as to receive the biggest reward she could. To do this, she needed to know more about her captive, who he was close to, or more importantly, who would pay the most for his release. The only way to do this would be to talk to him, but she needed to word everything carefully if she wanted to get the information. Along with that, she also needed to make sure she approached everything cautiously, making sure to provide maximum cooperation from the prince.  
“Tomorrow,” she muttered to herself. That would be the best time to carry out the interrogation. Give him an uncomfortable night and then offer him something slightly more comfortable if he cooperated…if not, then she would just have to make true to her promise.

Satisfied, Zendra glanced once more at the sea, then made her way down to her cabin, after all, tomorrow started at midnight and she wanted to make sure she had every detail figured out by then.

\----------------------------------------------------------

Avidan looked around the dark room, his eyes adjusting the small amount of light that peeked in from the crack under the door. It was darker than before and he realized there must be a slit in the ceiling that allowed for some daylight to seep through, and now that the sun was below the horizon that light was gone. He glanced at the cloth that his food had been in and his stomach growled in hunger. The loaf of bread had not nearly been enough food and even now he was wishing he had portioned it out better…the bread and the water. He had devoured both without even thinking and now he could feel thirst itching in the back of his throat again.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! He thought to himself, wishing he was better equipped to deal with everything that was going on. Not that escaping from a boat was something his tutor taught him, but surely if he had paid more attention to everything he had been taught then he might find a way out of this mess.

Sighing, he tried to stop thinking about his failures. Instead he curled up in the blanket, relishing its warmth now that the cool of night had overtaken the room. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to sleep, but unlike last time, he was unable to do so. His mind was churning away and he found himself berating himself for being so helpless, and in doing so anger started boiling inside of him. This time he directed it away from himself and towards this room, this ship, and especially the pirates. There had been no reason for them to take him besides money. Their selfishness had caused this, it was their fault, not his. With each minute, Avidan confirmed this fact in his mind, and as time passed he only grew more determined to make these outlaws pay.

He didn’t know how long he had been curled up there thinking, but he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost didn’t hear the footsteps. They were thumping in the hallway, getting closer to his prison. And then they stopped and after a moment he heard a key being inserted into the lock. Fueled by anger, Avidan tried to jump to his feet but the blanket twisted his legs together which resulted in him falling face first into the floor as the door opened.

A harsh chuckled sounded above him, and Avidan glanced up to see who was mocking him. It took him a few moments to make out the face, but after a few moments he was able to distinguish it as the “Captain.” Anger boiled in his stomach, and he quickly untangled himself and stood up, glaring daggers at her.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting…” she started, but before she could say any more Avidan aimed a punch at her face.

It wasn’t a bad aim at all, but what Avidan wasn’t expecting was the “Captain’s” reaction time. Faster than he could even see, she dodged his blow, and slammed her foot onto his toes. Then she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back which resulted in a very sharp pain racing through his whole arm.

“I thought I warned you,” her voice spoke close to his ear in a deadly tone.

Avidan wanted to reply, but as he tried to speak, she put more pressure on his arm, making him squeak in pain instead.

“I was about to offer you a better deal than the one you are currently in, but you have just lost that privilege,” she hissed. “Now, you will tell me who will offer the most money for you. Oh and if you don’t…” she pressed his arm more and he let out a yelp, “…then I will simply break your arm.”

Anger surged through Avidan once again, and he tried desperately to get free of her hold, but that only resulted in her putting more pressure on his arm. This time he managed to hold back a cry out pain, but just barely. He didn’t want to give in; he didn’t want to tell her anything, but the prospect of a broken arm wasn’t very appealing.

“You have three seconds to tell me,” the “Captain” said firmly, pressing his arm tighter as she started counting. “One…two…”

“Velvare! Velvare! He’ll pay the most for me!” Avidan yelped, and let out a sigh of relief as the pressure on his arm lessened.

“Good,” she said simply, but she didn’t let go of his arm. Instead she grabbed his other arm and tied them both together behind his back.

“What? But I told you!”

“And I warned you that you would cooperate or I would make things more unpleasant for you. Trying to attack me is no cooperating so I’m keeping my promise,” she hissed back.

“But…” Avidan started, but was slammed into the wall.

“I’d keep your mouth shut if I were you…that is unless you want a gag in it.”

Avidan’s anger only grew with that, but he didn’t say anything, he had no desire to have a dirty piece of cloth shoved into his mouth.

“Good,” she said, then released him, kicking him back into the room. “And just for extra measure…” Reaching down she grabbed the blanket, flashed him a cold smile, then slammed the door shut.

The lock clicked into place and Avidan started muttering to himself. What had he been thinking?!? Attacking her? What good would that have done? Even if he had managed to knock her down, he doubted he would’ve made it further than the deck. And if he had gotten that far where would he have gone? He was pretty sure they were surrounded by the ocean and even if there was land in sight he wasn’t the best swimming. Any swim longer than a few minutes would’ve mostly likely resulted in him drowning. Sitting down, he tucked his legs in, wincing as he noticed how much his toes hurt. When the “Captain” had stepped on them he only had a moment to notice the pain before she twisted his arm, but now his foot was hurting quite a bit. Trying to ignore the pain, he wriggled around and after a few moments finally managed to maneuver his arms around his legs so that they were in front of his body. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but this way he might actually be able to sleep…

“Stupid, captain….stupid ship…” he muttered to himself as he shifted his positions some, trying to get into a more comfortable position. Sighing, he forced himself to stop thinking about his situation and instead think about sleeping. He laid there for a long time; there was no telling how long, but eventually he found himself drifting off to sleep.


	2. Sickness and Stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few days, Avidan is sick and Zendra finds herself dealing with more than she bargained for. Both of them blame the other for their uncomfortable situations.

**Chapter 2: Sickness and Stress**

Avidan didn’t know how long he had been on this blasted boat, he guessed around a week but a few days ago he had started losing count. All he knew was that yesterday he had started feeling more tired than usual, and now he was pretty sure he had a fever. So not only was he on a ship in the middle of the ocean, but now he was also feeling pretty crappy too. His diminished health resulted in him sleeping more than usual, thus his lack of knowledge of the date.

Glancing around the small room, Avidan tried not to dwell on how awful he felt, but that wasn’t really happening. His wrists were rubbed raw and hurt more and anything should, and they were bleeding, or at least they had been. The blood had dried but that hadn’t stopped them from reopening every once in a while. This, he knew, was the reason behind his fever. The wounds were obviously infected, but apparently the pirates didn’t care about that, or they didn’t realize how bad of a shape he was in. He would place his money on the former.

In the corner, near the door was the small bundle of food that he had been given a while ago, but unlike before he had hadn’t even touched it. His fever resulted in him having no appetite whatsoever. He felt too weak to even move let alone eat. And as much as he tried, he hadn’t been able to ration out his water. The fever was making him even thirstier, thus as soon as he had gotten the cup and pitcher, he had drunk it all within a few minutes. But now he wished he had saved at least a little bit. His throat was dry and he was feeling even warmer than before, the only relief he got was the occasional chill, which he knew wasn’t a good sign. Chills were only further proof that he had a fever and at the rate he had them, he knew it was a bad one. Though he only had that knowledge that because of his time spent with Noah. If only he had learned more about fighting and less about medicine, then maybe he wouldn’t be in this situation at all.

Closing his eyes, he curled up in his blanket - which didn’t provide even a fraction of the cover he needed - and tried to sleep again. Even with the pain he was in, his body seemed to know sleep would be good for him and thus he was in a deep sleep within a few minutes. So deep a sleep in fact that he wasn’t even awake a few minutes later when Jenna unlocked the door and looked in.

As she glanced around the room, Jenna frowned as she saw the unwrapped bread, and the empty water. She had simply been stopping in to see if the prisoner’s bucket needed to be emptied, but the fact that he hadn’t woken on or touched his food worried her. Bending down, she very carefully placed two fingers on his forehead, and as she did so they were immediately warmed by it.

“That’s not good,” she muttered to herself. Getting to her feet, she quickly closed and locked the door before hastily making her way up to the deck. As she reached it, she didn’t even acknowledge any of her other crew members as she made her way to Zendra.

Striding up to the captain, Jenna bit her lip for a moment. Then she brushed aside a stray strand of her dusty brown hair and took a deep breath. She didn’t want to bring bad news, but she knew she needed to tell the captain.

“What is it?” Zendra asked curtly before Jenna could say anything.

“It’s the prince....”

 

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Zendra paced around her room, putting various items into drawers, along with thrusting a few pieces of clothing into a small bag. She was waiting to hear from Carter, the ship’s physician, about the state of the prince. Though from what Jenna had told her, there was a high chance of him having to be moved from his small prison, thus why she was cleaning or more specifically, locking things up. After all, her quarters were the only other room that could be locked, aside from the food pantry, so if he had to be moved, it would be here. This was an annoying thought, one that she hoped wouldn’t come true, but just then she heard a knock at her open door and one look at Carter told her all she needed to know.

“He’s that bad?”

Carter shifted from one foot to the other, his shaggy blonde hair moving slightly as he did so. “Umm, yes…he has a pretty bad infection and fever. I have what I need to treat him, though I’m getting a little low on supplies, but that room…” he trailed off, glancing up at Zendra, hesitation glistening in his light brown eyes.

Zendra quickly held up her hand, “Say no more, I figured things would be as such. He will be moved here, and then you will treat him as needed.”

Carter nodded quickly in agreement, “Of course captain…uh…also his food…”

“Tell Natalee that she is to prepare any food you ask for,” Zendra spoke, running over Carter’s words before he could finish.

“Yes captain, I will get to it right away,” he said, dipping his head before heading out of the room.

Sighing, Zendra tried not to think too much about the situation at hand, because if she did she knew she would lose her temper. It had only been five days and the prince was already proving to be more of a hassle than she had reckoned. _You won’t get any ransom money if he dies because of a silly infection_ , she told herself. The money would well be worth the slight inconvenience. Shaking off her thoughts, Zendra quickly walked around the room and locked every drawer that could be locked. Once she was finished she placed the keys in her pocket. As she did so, a paper on the desk caught her eye; it was the ransom letter she had written over the past few days. They had yet to send it to Gallitan as the ship had not reached a port yet. Striding over to it, she picked up the paper and placed it in her pocket. Then she scanned the map laid out on the table. If they were on the right course, they would be nearing Blue Valley, a port town on a Gallitan owned island. Knowing that the ransom needed to be sent as soon as possible, Zendra quickly made her way to the deck, only taking a detour to the bunk room to deposit her bag.

Once back in the ocean breeze, Zendra felt her spirits rising; the sea could almost always cheer up her dour moods. Glancing around, she spotted Sam at the wheel. Striding over to him, she glanced out at the sea for a moment before speaking. “We should be reaching one of Gallitan’s islands by nightfall. Drop anchor when he get close to the port, then let Lynna know I have a letter for her to…send to the mainland. I’ll be in the sleeping quarters.”

Sam nodded, his almost black eyes were the same color as his hair and as usual they were carrying almost no emotion. If he was surprised by the fact that she would be in the crew’s quarters, he didn’t show it.

Now that the matter of the ransom was settled, Zendra let her gaze wander until she spotted Jenna checking one of the sails. Striding over to her, she noted how her closest friend looked up right away. Even those she trusted the most were still wary of her.

“What’s the news?” Jenna asked, motioning for Zendra to sit down, but the captain shook her head and stayed standing.

“The prince will be moved to my quarters and there is to be a guard on him at all costs. See to it that there is,” Zendra said simply and waited for Jenna’s nod of acknowledgement before she retreated below deck once more. Only when she had made it to her temporary hammock in the cramped crew quarters did she let herself let out the deep breath she had been holding in. Contrary to what most people might think, being the captain of a ship was not easy. Sure, it meant power and respect, but only if you acted a certain way. You could not show any sign of weakness, even to your first mate. No one could see any signs of sadness, fear or worry, at least this is what Zendra had learned from her time as a captain. Maybe there was another way to lead, but not on a ship, or at least on this ship. It was this fact resulted in her feeling constantly overwhelmed. The only time she could have to herself was when she was in her quarters and now that had been robbed from her.

“Woah, should I come back later?”

Zendra’s head snapped up, quickly masking the anger and stress that she was sure had been evident on her face a second ago. Lynna was standing in front of her, her long blond hair falling across her should as her head tilted to the side, her blue-green eyes gleaming with inquiry as she waited for an answer.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m assuming Sam sent you?” Zendra asked, mentally chiding herself for letting one of her crew members catch her off guard.

“Yup, he told me you have a letter for me?” Lynna asked, curiosity still glittering in her eyes.

Zendra nodded and pulled the ransom out of her pocket, “This needs to get to Velvare in Greenway, quickly and anonymously.”

Reaching out her hand, Lynna grabbed the letter and quickly deposited it in her own pocket. “I’ll get right on it as soon as we land.”

“Good,” Zendra said curtly, and waited to see Lynna leave, but she didn’t move.

“Captain?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes…?”

“Don’t let me over step my bounds but…if I may...in my experience, bottling up emotions only leads to troubles in the end…” As she spoke, Lynna, shifted on her feet a little, it was obvious she was slightly worried about how Zendra would react.

Narrowing her eyes, Zendra barely held back a sharp retort. She knew her crew only wanted the best for her, and she wasn’t mad at Lynna for saying such things. In truth, she was mad at herself for showing her emotions, or really, not being able vent in her quarters like before. Stupid prince… “Thank you for your…advice, but I can assure you I don’t have any problems keeping my emotions in check.”

“Uh…” Lynna said, then seemed to change her mind at the last minute, “Of course…oh and Jenna told me to let you know that she is waiting for you in your quarters.” After she had spoken, she gave Zendra a smile and a nod before heading out of the room.

Once she was gone, Zendra sighed and recomposed herself again; there was no way she was going to let down her guard like that again. Then she got to her feet and made her way to her quarters, only to stop at the door when she found Jenna there.

“Captain,” Jenna dipped her head in greeting before continuing. “I believe you still have the key,” she said, her dull green eyes glancing at the door.

Zendra could’ve slapped herself for being so foolish, of course she still had the key. First losing her emotional mask and now this! She really needed to me more careful, she was never this unstable before, the stupid prince was messing with more than her sleeping situation and he didn’t even know it. Her anger at him was loosening the tight hold she had built around her emotions and that only infuriated her more. “Yes, of course,” she said and quickly dug out the large iron key, placing it in Jenna’s large hand.

When Jenna didn’t lock the door however, Zendra frowned. Was everything on this ship coming undone?

“Carter is still in there, I’m not going to lock him in,” Jenna said simply.

“Ah, I see…” Zendra said, feeling a slight weight lifted from her shoulders, but compared to everything else she was dealing with, it wasn’t much of a comfort. Glancing at the door she frowned, she didn’t really want to see the prince again, if she did she might lose her cool. But maybe being in her quarters for a few moments would help her get a better grasp on her situation, even if she wasn’t alone in them. Letting out a pent up breath, she stepped forward and opened the door. Jenna, being who she was, didn’t question the action.

Upon coming inside, Zendra immediately saw the prince on her bed, a fact that made her blood boil once again but she quickly suppressed her anger when Carter looked up. This had been foolish, why would coming in here help her? If anything it would make her even more riled up! But she couldn’t very well leave now that she was here…

“Captain!” Carter said, obviously alarmed by her sudden entrance, and she guessed he would’ve stood to attention if he hadn’t been working on the prince.

“Relax Carter,” Zendra said simply, managing to suppress her anger. After all, she knew Carter didn’t handle complex or sensitive situations very well. She simply needed to keep her cool until she left, she could do that. “I was just checking in to see how it is going.”

“It’s going much better now that I’m out of that pitiful thing you call a room.”

Zendra’s eyes snapped to the prince as he spoke, letting all of her anger bore down on him. After all, it was his fault she was dealing with all of this turmoil. He looked awful, a fact that brought an almost villainous joy to her. His cheeks were red and there were bags under his eyes. A bright light of fever glowed in them…though to her trained eye she could also see anger glowering in his grey eyes. So she wasn’t the only one who was upset, not that she cared how he felt about her, she wasn’t here to please after all. Besides, his anger couldn’t compare to hers. Though as she looked at him, she found his sad excuse for a glare down right amusing, a fact that made her chuckle slightly.

“As I recall, it was your bad behavior that confined you to that room. So the only one you have to blame is yourself,” Zendra said, glad that her voice sounded calmer than she felt. As she spoke, she noted the hatred brimming in the prince’s eyes, and that only brought a cruel smile to her lips. She simply kept her steely gaze on him for a moment, before passing looking away, ignoring him as best she could as she turned to Carter – though she softened her gaze as she did so.

“Keep up the good work Carter,” she said simply, nodding her approval before turning on her heels and walking out of the room.

 

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

_So the only one you have to blame is yourself_. Those words echoed around in Avidan’s mind as he lay on the captain’s bed. Part of him knew it wasn’t true, or at least not entirely. The captain was the one who had confined him to that room. However he knew he had acted foolishly without thinking. So in part he was to blame. Sure, the whole situation wasn’t too bad right now. This room was much nicer than the other one, and there were plenty of blankets and even a window. The fact that he felt like he could barely move diminished from the improvement, but already he could start to feel the difference in his body. After he had been moved here, his wrists had been unbound and cleaned before being wrapped in some cloth. Then he had been given some horrible tasting medicine and had about three blankets piled on top of him. In all honesty he was a little hot under all of the cloth, but at the same time it also felt good. It was the kind of odd phenomenon that only sickness could bring.

As he lay there, Avidan felt sleep pulling at him, but he fought it as best he could. After all, the physician…what was his name? Collin? Carson? It was something with a C. Whatever his name was, he said that he would be back shortly with some soup and Avidan didn’t really want to fall asleep only to be woken up a few minutes later. So he waited and as he waited he thought. His thoughts, however, were hazy and unclear. He couldn’t think about something for more than a few seconds before it got lost in the fog. The one thing that his mind kept coming back to was the “Captain.” She infuriated him and he didn’t even know her name, which only angered him more. But aside from that he thought about the few instances in which he had seen her interacting with the crew – most importantly, how she brought respect to herself by being tough and intimidating. Would it be wrong of him to try some of those tactics himself? After all, no one seemed to respect or pay much attention to him, even though he was the crown prince. Maybe if he demanded attention, he would get it. But was imitating a pirate whom he hated really a good idea? After all a boat was different than a kingdom, but at the same time a leader was still a leader, right?

The sound of the door unlocking snapped Avidan out of his musings and a few seconds later the physician came in with a bowl and glass in his hand. Just the thought of eating food made Avidan queasy. However, he also knew he needed to eat something, otherwise he wouldn’t have the strength to do anything and his body might not be able to fight off this blasted infection.

“Here you go,” the physician said, then added, “It’s only broth, but it should help some, and I also brought you some water.” As he spoke, Collin or whatever his name was, handed Avidan the bowl and set the water down on a side table that was bolted to the wall.

Trying to force down his lack of appetite, Avidan took the bowl and, spoon and swallowed a few warm spoonfuls. As he did so, he was aware that his hand was shaking weakly, and that annoyed him, especially because the physician was staring at him as he ate.

“Do you mind?” Avidan finally asked after a minute.

“Oh, sorry, I just wanted to make sure you ate it. You can just leave the bowl on the ground when you are done. And if you need anything just give a shout out and the guard will come get me. Oh and make sure to rest!”

Avidan glanced at the door. So he had a guard? He hadn’t had a guard before, why did he get one now? No matter, it wasn’t like he had the strength to even get up, let alone try to escape.

As the physician got to his feet and headed out of the room, Avidan found himself comparing the blond haired teen to Enel. There were differences of course but they both seemed kid-like - jumping all over the place and being insensitive to personal boundaries. Ok, so Enel was way more immature than this kid, but there were still similarities. The fact that he was even thinking about Enel annoyed Avidan a bit, but in all honesty he would rather have to deal with Enel’s idiocy than be stuck sick on this stupid boat.

After the physician was gone, Avidan finished his soup and shakily placed the bowl on the ground. Then he took a sip of water before snuggling into the blankets and closing his eyes. He hoped that when he woke that he would feel much better, but considering his luck recently he highly doubted that would happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lynna is a shout-out to my good friend whose online nickname is Lynna. The character is loosely based off of the real person, though there are differences obviously.   
> I also tried to add more descriptions of characters so everyone can have a clearer view of what people look like. I don't know if it is evident, but Jenna has a larger build. Most people would assume she is the more dangerous one, that is until they see the intensity in Zendra's eyes.


End file.
